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Topic: Don't be scammed..!! (Read 1253 times)

There's a good chance that every day your email 'junk' folder fills with all sorts of scams. And when you cast a glance over them, it's easy to wonder why the scammers don't put a bit more effort into them. Why are they always supposedly from a Nigerian prince? Why are they written in such an unsophisticated way? And why are they riddled with spelling errors? The reason for all of this may not be what you think.

The scams involved here are the notorious Nigerian 419 scams, where a criminal sends out batch emails claiming to be a Nigerian prince trying to recover a fortune. All he needs from you is a sum of cash, and in return you'll be handsomely rewarded when he gets his hands on his fortune. Of course, this is all nonsense. The scammer is no more a Nigerian prince than you are, and the only fortune he or she is going to amass is from gullible people who are persuaded to send their money.

The use of the Nigerian location and the unsophisticated approach is to weed out those people who might wise up to the scam part of the way through the process. They only want to hear from people who are so gullible that they fall for an obvious Nigerian 419 scam - and the only way to do that is to make it an obvious Nigerian 419 scam.

This isn't the only scam to use this approach: there's the absurd email from IT support asking for your password, the email promising you a tax refund, or the one from your bank asking for your account details.

These are all now so familiar that they ring the same alarm bells - and rest assured that they are intended to. They only want responses from people who haven't heard the many hundreds of warnings about these scams over the years. Otherwise, they're going to end up wasting their days emailing people who never pay up.

This all comes with a word of warning though. Although some scams are designed to be easy to spot, there's another breed of scammer who is constantly trying to think of a new way to trick people out of their money or personal details. So while we can all raise our eyebrows at the silliness of the Nigerian scam, it doesn't mean we can afford to drop our guard against more innovative and newer approaches.

10 Scams to be vigilant about..

1. 'British Airways' phishing scamA spate of phishing emails purporting to be from British Airways have been sent out to members of the public. The emails, which asked customers to confirm flights they had never booked, were attempts to get people's personal details, British Airways said. It also warned against emails which ask passengers to pay a BTA tax (Basic Travel Allowance) to travel with a friend.

2. Fake mattress scamsThe National Bed Federation (NBF) has issued a warning about fake mattress scams, claiming "hundreds, if not thousands" of people are being targeted by rogue traders. The scammers find discarded mattresses and put a new cover on them, then sell them on 'as new'. Trading Standards said it is finding such "substandard mattresses on a regular basis. As well as being ridden with bugs, the mattresses may not meet British fire-retardant foam standards. The NBF promised mattresses carrying its logo are safe, however.

3. Fake accident claimsImposters claiming to be Citizens Advice advisers have cold-called and texted members of the public and pretended to offer them help with accident claims, in an attempt to scam them out of thousands of pounds.

4. Gold mine scamInvestors are being told to be on their guard against a gold mine scam. A leading gold mining company, Petropavlovsk, warned its 20,000 shareholders are being targeted by scammers calling themselves 'Equiniti Stock Registers' (similar to the bona fide Equiniti Group) and offering to swap bogus warrants for thousands of pounds of shares.

5. Tax rebate phishingHMRC has issued a warning about new spate of tax rebate phishing emails. The emails, which purport to be from HMRC, may be carrying the official logo and appear very convincing. Nearly 100,000 people are typically affected by these scams in the three months running up to the self assessment deadline on 31 January, a 47% increase on last year. Gareth Lloyd, Head of Digital Security at HMRC, said: "HMRC never contacts customers who are due a tax refund via email – we always send a letter through the post. If you receive an email claiming to be from HMRC which offers a tax rebate, please send it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and then delete it permanently."

6. 'Flappy Bird' malicious appUsers of the popular Flappy Bird game have been lured into buying malicious apps from Google's Android store after Flappy Bird's developer, Dong Nguyen, decided the game was too addictive and had "become a problem". He removed it from the app store, and scam artists have since created clone apps containing malicious software that is designed to trick users into sending premium rate text messages, says software firm Trend Micro. "The fake Flappy Bird app ask for the additional read/send text messages permissions during installation - one that is not required in the original version."

7. Investment conThe National Fraud Intelligence Bureau announced hundreds of elderly people are being targeted by a new form of investment scam involving diamonds and rare jewels. Companies have cold-called victims and tried to persuade them to hand over thousands of pounds to invest in gems that have been marked up by as much as 17 times their actual value. The companies may also refuse to hand over any diamonds at all and will constantly encourage people to keep the investment a 'secret' from potential jewel thieves. Diamond brokers do not have to be registered with a regulator, which makes the market vulnerable to such abuse, so police advise hanging up on cold-callers.

8. Rebate scamPolice in Nottingham have issued a warning about a phone scam in which callers are being asked to purchase Ukash vouchers in order to receive a rebate from the Office of Fair Trading. The scammers tell their victims they are eligible to reclaim thousands of pounds of bank or other charges such as payment protection insurance (PPI). The fraudsters then claim the service requires an upfront payment of between £200 and £250, and ask them to do a money transfer, disclose their bank account details or supply a UKash voucher serial number. These serial numbers are like cash - hand them over and it's like handing over money. "Never reveal a UKash voucher code to anyone over the phone," said a spokesperson for Action Fraud.

9. 'BT' disconnection scamPolice have also warned that scammers are cold-calling people pretending to be from BT and tricking them into thinking their phone line has been disconnected. Police say the fraudsters claim your BT bill has not been paid and the account is in arrears. If you refuse to immediately make a payment over the phone, they tell you your phone line will be disconnected and warn you that if you do not pay now, it will cost you a lot more to reconnect it later. Challenge them and the scammer will 'demonstrate' that they are from BT by pressing the mute button on their phone, which makes it seem like the phone line has been disconnected. The fraudsters will eventually hang up, call you back and demand payment again. BT has stated that, while they may have to call you about a debt, they will never disconnect your landline during the call.

10. Rogue tradersHouseholders have been warned to watch out for rogue traders and cowboy builders following the recent storms. Trading Standards are warning flood victims against paying cold-callers to carry out repairs to their homes or remove 'dangerous' trees. Meanwhile, some motorists have been targeted by conmen, who have removed 'road closed' warning signs and waited for cars to get stuck. Then the scammers driven up to their victims in 4x4s and offer to free them - for a fee.